Instant Connection
by BearKat13
Summary: Male Rachel. Rayden Berry moves back to Lima after 6 years and meets Santana Lopez. He's drawn to her instantly, but he kinda has a secret.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So I know that I already have two stories that I'm working on, but I got a PM asking me to write a genderswap Pezberry, and I said sure. i hope it's not to bad and please review and let me know whether or not to continue.**

_**Disclaimer: Glee's not mine**_

"Are you sure he's going to be ok today?" I ask my dads. Again. For about the tenth time.

"Yes Rayden," my daddy, Leroy, sighs out in exasperation, and at the apologetic and sad look on my face my dad, Hiram, quickly speaks.

"Look son, I know you're worried about leaving him alone for the first time, but your Daddy knows how to take care of a baby. He'll be fine I promise."

"I know, I know. I'm just over-reacting. I'm sorry," I say quietly, rocking the sleeping baby in my arms and looking at him adoration.

"There's no need to apologize buddy. Now go upstairs and get dressed please, otherwise you're going to be late for your first day," my Dad tells me. He gently takes the baby from my arms and lightly shoves me towards the stairs.

I go up them with them with a resigned sigh, and as soon as I'm in my room I jump in the shower. After showering I look through my closet until I settle on a light green and black striped v-neck, black skinny jeans, my black combat boots, and my leather jacket. I change out my tongue ring to green and brush my semi-shaggy hair before grabbing my bag and heading back downstairs.

"No trouble today please," my Daddy says as I walk into the kitchen to see him getting a bottle ready for the baby.

"I make no promises," I tell him as I take the infant from my Dad and grab the bottle from my Daddy before sitting down to feed him. My dads just share an exasperated look but I ignore them and focus on the baby in my arms. "You're going to be a good boy for PawPaw right Monks? Daddy's sorry that he has to leave you today, but I promise I'm going to be back for lunch. Then I can tell you all about my morning," I whisper to my son as I watch him eat. I burp him at the appropriate times, and once he's finished I kiss him all over his face before handing him to my Dad and walking out to my Jeep.

"Wow I can already tell this day's going to suck," I groan out as I park in the parking lot of McKinley and see jocks tormenting kids everywhere. I take a few deep breaths before I jump out of my jeep and lock the doors. I look around and make sure that there's not any jocks around me before heading inside of the school. I put on my most intimidating face and walk towards where I remember my locker to be from registration this summer.

As I'm standing at my locker, trading out the materials I don't need at the moment, I notice three hot as fuck cheerleaders walking down the hall. There's two blondes, one tall with blue eyes and the other shorter with hazel eyes, and there's a beautiful latina girl who has her pinky linked with the taller blonde. There's something about the latina that seems to draw me in, besides the fact that she's gorgeous. I can tell that her whole persona right now is all an act, and I want to be able to break past her barriers and get to know the girl behind them. The latina and I make eye contact as they stop at the lockers across the hall from me, and the only thing that causes us to break it is the warning bell scaring the fuck out of me.

When I finally make it to my first class I notice a familiar face and I grin. I calmly take a seat in the back next to him and wait to see if he'll recognize me. It seems he doesn't, which kinda saddens me, but I think nothing of it since it's been years since we've seen eachother. Once the bell rings the teacher quiets the class and begins to call roll.

"Rayden Efran Berry?" the teacher calls out, and as soon as the name leaves her lips I see my old friend straighten in his seat, and hear his voice.

"No fucking way!"

"Ah, Mr. Puckerman, I see I have you in my class this year. Goody. Now will you quiet down and let me take roll, or is there something that you'd like to share with the class?" the teacher asks Noah dryly.

"Sorry Ms. Anderson," Noah mumbles out distractedly, looking around the room for me. I keep my head down and chuckle quietly until the teacher recalls my name.

"I'm here ma'am," I say, finally lifting my head and raising my hand. I see Noah staring intently at me from the corner of my eye before he breaks out in a huge grin and holds out his fist towards me. I look over towards him with a smirk, and making eye contact as we bump fist.

"Jewbro!" Noah exclaims once the class is over, jumping on my back.

"Get off me Noah!" I growl out playfully, trying to buck him off of me. He finally gets off, but as soon as he does he pulls me into a headlock and begins to ruffle my hair. "Bro not cool!" I shout as I try to break out of his hold. I finally manage and push him away with a laugh.

"Dude when in the hell did you get back?" Noah asks me as we finally exit the classroom and begin walking to our next class.

"At the beginning of the summer," I tell him with a grin before grabbing his schedule out of his hand. "I have spanish with you, but the rest of our classes are separate."

"Why didn't you look me up bro? We could've had a kickass time, and damn that sucks. You're in all those smart people classes right?"

"Yes Noah I'm in advanced classes, and as for why I didn't try and find you to chill this summer, it's complicated."

"What's up?" he asks, suddenly serious. This is one of the things I loved about him when we were younger, he was always a clown but loyal to a fault, and always there and serious when you needed him to be.

"I'll tell you later," I murmur to him as we walk into our spanish class. He just nods before walking over to the cheerleaders I saw this morning. My eyes immediately find the latina again as I follow Noah and take a seat beside them.

"Jewbro the Unholy Trinity. Britt, Fabray, Lopez this is Ray," Noah introduces us. I hold out my hand for them to shake and the blonde with the hazel eyes shakes it first.

"Quinn Fabray, Head Cheerio," she introduces herself.

"Rayden Berry," I say, then I shake the taller blonde's hand next.

"Hi I'm Brittany S. Pierce."

"Nice to meet you Brittany," I say with a grin before moving on to the latina. She eyes my hand for a moment before reluctantly taking it after being elbowed in the side from Brittany.

"Santana Lopez," she tells me, taking my hand in hers. As soon as our hands touch my breath catches in my throat and an electric current runs up my arm. I quickly lock eyes with Santana to see if she feels it as well, and I can tell by the surprise and curiosity in her eyes that she does.

"That's a beautiful name," I whisper out before kissing the back of her hand and releasing it. I see Noah smirking at me from the corner of my eye but ignore him and continue to watch the blush that's rising on Santana's cheeks.

"Whatever, and don't do that again Berry," she snarks after she manages to compose herself. I'm fixing to say something else, but the teacher walks in and begins class. I just shoot her a wink before facing forward and paying attention.

"Can I walk you to your next class?" I ask Santana as soon as our spanish class is over.

"No," she tells me before linking pinkies with Brittany and heading down the hall. I follow her, not because I'm creepy or anything it's just my next class is the same way, and Noah pops up beside me.

"Ouch bro," he says as he pats me on the shoulder.

"It's whatever," I say with a shrug before ducking into my class. I then grin when I see Santana sitting in the back and immediately make a beeline for her. I take the seat next to her and begin to take out the things I'm going to need for the class.

"What do you want Berry?" she asks me with an eyeroll.

"Nothing just waiting for class to start," I reply with a shrug.

"How do you know Puck," she questions with a raised brow.

"I've known Noah since we were little. We used to hang out all the time until I moved to New York when I was ten," I explain.

"New York? That's pretty awesome. What made you move back?" she asks sceptically and I smirk at her tone.

"It's complicated," I answer. She opens her mouth to say more but the bell rings and the teacher begins class. I sigh in relief cause for some reason I didn't want to have to lie to her.

"What's your next class?" she questions after the bell rings. I hand over my schedule and watch as she looks over it. "We have the last two classes together," she tells me with a small smile, and I grin at her before we walk out of the class and separate in the hallway.

"Please don't," I hear someone plead fearfully from in front of me. I scan the hallway and see two jocks surrounding a boy in a wheelchair and a flamboyantly gay boy and each holding a slushie. I lengthen my stride and step in front of the jocks, shielding the guys from harm.

"What's up?" I question casually as I eye the drinks in their hands.

"Who the hell are you?" one of the neanderthals asks me.

"I'm Rayden Berry, and you two are?"

"Azimio and Karofsky," the guy who spoke before says.

"Cool, well me and my friends have gotta go, but it's been fun talking," I say as I gently nudge the gay kid behind me to move.

"I don't care what you do, but we have unfinished business with these two," the guy named Karofsky tells me.

"No I don't think you do," I tell them with an eyebrow raise.

"Says who?" Azimio asks.

"Me," I answer with a shrug. The guys share a look before shrugging at eachother and turning back to me. They pull their arm back to slushie me, but before they can I hit the bottom of the cups and cause them to slushie themselves.

"What the fuck?" Karofsky screams out.

"You didn't really think I was just going to let you two throw that shit on me did you?" I ask incredulously. They just glare at me before wiping their eyes and heading into the nearest bathroom. I turn around with a chuckle and begin to walk away before someone shouting my name stops me.

"Thank you so much," the gay kid says as him and the wheelchair dude catch up to me.

"Not a problem," I tell them with a grin and a mock bow.

"Still thank you. I'm Artie and this is Kurt," the wheelchair kid tells me and I shake both of their outstreched hands.

"Nice to meet you, but I've gotta get to class so I'll see you two around," I say with a grin before heading to my class.

* * *

"Hey bro you're sitting with me at lunch," Noah says as he walks up to my locker after the last class before lunch.

"Sorry Noah but I've gotta get home," I tell him with a small smile.

"What? Why?" he asks with a pout.

"Stop pouting, I thought you were a badass?" I mock him.

"Fuck off. I am a badass," he tells me with another pout. I study him for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"Look come home with me. I'll explain what I couldn't earlier," I say and his face lights up. I laugh at his childishness before grabbing my bag and heading out to the parking lot. He follows me to my jeep and once inside I start it and head home.

As I pull into my driveway I take a few deep breaths before I get out and lead Noah up onto my porch. "What your fixing to see and learn doesn't leave this house," I tell him seriously.

"Don't worry bro, my lips are sealed," he tells me, playfully zipping his lips and throwing away the imaginary key. I give him a nod before opening the door and walking inside.

"Daddy I'm home," I call as I take off my jacket.

"We're in the kitchen," he calls back, and I grin at the thought of seeing my son again. I walk into the kitchen with Noah on my heels and once my Daddy sees him he grins. "Noah! It's been awhile."

"Hey Lee, and yeah it really has," Noah says, but his eyes are trained on the carseat that's sitting on the table and the baby in it. "You didn't tell me you have a brother now," Noah says to me.

"It's cause I don't," I answer him with a small smile. "This is what I'm going to explain. Noah meet Chord, my son."

**So I hope it doesn't suck to badly, and please leave a review and let me know if I should continue. Also I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks for reading = )**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you so much for all of the reviews and great feedback for the first chapter. I apologize for the wait on the update. Please review and I hope you enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer: Even though I often with it was, Glee's not mine**_

"Can you repeat that please?" Noah asks as he continues to stare at Chord in his carseat.

"He's my son Noah," I say again as I walk over to him and gently lift him from his seat. Noah looks so shocked that it's laughable. "Hey baby boy. Daddy told you he'd come back and see you at lunch time, didn't he? Yes he did," I coo at him as I wait for my friend to come out of his shock.

"He hasn't eaten yet, I was saving that for you," Daddy tells me as he continues to prepare lunch for the big people.

"Thanks Daddy," I say as I head over to the fridge and pull out a bottle of pre-made formula. I pop it in the microwave for a few moments and make sure it's the right temperature before sitting down at the table Noah's now sitting at, and beginning to feed him.

"He's so tiny," Noah says in awe as he watches him eat.

"That's cause he's only three months old, and also cause he was born pre-maturely," I explain as I keep an eye on how much he's eaten so far.

"So how exactly did this happen?" Noah questions, and I'm fixing to make a smartass remark but he stops me before I can. "And you know what I mean so don't be a smartass." I forgot how well we know eachother, even after all this time apart.

"Well I was in this relationship with a girl named Erica, who was seventeen at the time we got together, for around a year or so before she ended up pregnant. She decided to carry the baby to term, thank Moses, but then she was going to give he or she up for adoption," I begin to explain as I stop feeding Chord to burp him. "She made this decision by herself, and even though I was only fifteen at the time I wanted my kid. We started arguing about it constantly and we eventually broke up. Even though we weren't together anymore I was always around her because of Chord, and when she went into labor a month early I nearly had a heart attack. She waived her parental rights, and when the adoption people looked to me I told them to go fuck themselves before going to the nursery to check on my kid."

"Damn bro, that must've been harsh," Noah comments, as he continues to alternate between watching me and watching Chord.

"Oh it was," Daddy says as he places our food in front of us before sitting at the table with his own.

"Yeah it was. We made the decision that once he was safely out of the hospital that we'd come back here with him. Just for the fact that Erica and her family were, and most likely still are, pretty pissed that I didn't wave my rights like they expected of me. They don't know that we're from here, and they don't know that we've moved back," I say as I set Chord in his seat on the floor and begin to eat.

"Wait. Why were they so mad that you didn't wave your rights to him? I mean he's your son, and it's not like they wanted him," Noah questions with his brows knitted together.

"They were so angry because Erica promised him to her older sister and her husband, who can't have kids. They told me that it wasn't my decision whether or not I got to keep him, cause Erica didn't want to. She wanted him in her life, but she didn't want the responsibility of being his mom. I also don't even know why they were so surprised, cause they knew my stance on it to begin with."

"Damn bro. That's some fucked up shit," Noah says around a bite of burger. I roll my eyes at his lack of manners and we change the subject for the rest of the meal.

"Can I hold him?" Noah asks as we head into the living room for the last few minutes we have before we have to head back to school.

"Course dude. Go to uncle Puck," I coo as I gently hand him over. As I watch my best friend hold and stare at my son in awe and adoration I can't help but pulling out my phone and snapping a quick picture.

* * *

"Where were you during lunch?" Santana questions as I walk into my fifth period. I raise an amused eyebrow before grinning and taking a seat beside her.

"Why? Miss me?" I tease and at her scowl, which is totally fake, I tell her the truth. "I had some things to take of at home."

"That's cool, I guess," she says and I laugh. "Shut up. Ass."

"Oh I know," I tell her with a smirk.

"Are you trying out for the football team?" she questions suddenly after ten minutes of silence.

"Oh...um, no I'm not. I am thinking about auditioning for the glee club after school though," I tell her with a small smile.

"You hesitated," she points out and I curse in my head.

"Huh?" I ask, deciding to play dumb.

"When I asked if you were trying out for football, you hesitated with your answer," she tells me and I frown. Damn.

"Look I love the sport, but I'm still undecided on whether or not to join the team. I'm leaning more towards no, that's why I said it."

"Why the hells not? You needs the extra cred if you're joining glee," she tells me, and I have to stop my laughter at the way she says it.

"I'll think about it," I tell her with another small smile before paying attention to the teacher.

* * *

"Hey Berry!" I hear from down the hall and I sigh. These dudes are going to give me trouble the entire year, I can feel it. I turn away from the conversation I'm having with a random, and pretty hot, Cheerio to see what they want.

"Yes fellers?" I ask in an, obviously fake, overenthusiastic tone.

"I hear you're good on the field," Karofsky starts off. I'm wary of where this is going but I nod anyway. "We need all the good people we can get, so join the team." I think about it for a few moments before an idea forms in my head.

"I will," I begin and they both visibly brighten, "on one condition," I finish and laugh in my head at how they both quickly deflate.

"What?" Azimio asks hesitantly.

"If I join, you need to leave the glee club alone," I demand. Noah told me about the treatment they receive and it pisses me off. They both look like they're about to protest, so I cut them off before they can. "Look I don't care what you have to say about it, but no dice if it doesn't happen. You stop bullying the glee club, and you get one of the best running-backs in the state. You don't stop it, well then you don't get me. Easy as that," I tell them before walking past them and towards the choir room for the glee meeting and my audition.

"Fine!" Karofsky shouts after me.

"I knew you'd see it my way boys," I say over my shoulder as I continue on my way.

"Ok guys, so we need to talk members," Mr. Shue says as he walks into the choir room. He immediately stops speaking, and walking, when he sees me in sitting next to Noah and Santana on the top of the risers. "Hi, and you are?" he asks politely.

"Rayden Berry sir," I say as I stand up and make my way towards him at the front of the room. "Noah told me earlier that I had to audition, so I'm ready when you are." Shue blinks a few times in surprise before his entire face lights up like a christmas tree.

"Yeah! Great. Just start whenever you're ready," he tells me before taking a seat next to a really tall dude. I walk over to where my guitar is laying and grab it before facing the club.

"Ok, so as I'm sure you heard me say to Mr. Shue, my name's Rayden Berry. I was talking about a rough time I went through with my ex-girlfriend to Noah earlier, and that conversation reminded me of a song I wrote towards the end of our year and a half relationship. I'm gonna play it for you, and I hope you enjoy it," I tell them as I begin.

_Tomorrow I'm gonna leave here_  
_I'm gonna let you go and walk away like every day I said I would_  
_And tomorrow, I'm gonna listen_  
_To that voice of reason inside my head telling me that we're no good_

_But tonight I'm gonna give in one last time_  
_Rock you strong in these arms of mine_  
_Forget all the regrets that are bound to follow_  
_We're like fire and gasoline_  
_I'm no good for you_  
_You're no good for me_  
_We only bring each other tears and sorrow_  
_But tonight, I'm gonna love you like there's no tomorrow_

_Tomorrow I'll be stronger_  
_I'm not gonna break down and call you up when my heart cries out for you_  
_And tomorrow, you won't believe it,_  
_But when I pass your house,_  
_I won't stop no matter how bad I want to_

_But tonight I'm gonna give in one last time_  
_Rock you strong in these arms of mine_  
_Forget all the regrets that are bound to follow_  
_We're like fire and gasoline_  
_I'm no good for you_  
_You're no good for me_  
_We only bring each other tears and sorrow_  
_But tonight, I'm gonna love you like there's no tomorrow_

_Baby when we're good, you know we're great_  
_But there's too much bad for us to think that there's anything worth trying to save_

_But tonight I'm gonna give in one last time_  
_Rock you strong in these arms of mine_  
_Forget all the regrets that are bound to follow_  
_We're like fire and gasoline_  
_I'm no good for you_  
_You're no good for me_  
_We only bring each other tears and sorrow_  
_But tonight, I'm gonna love you like there's no tomorrow_

_Tomorrow, I'm gonna leave here_  
_I'm gonna let you go and walk away like every day I said I would_

Once I'm done singing it's super quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pen drop. It stays like that for a whole minute, and I'm beginning to get self-conscious, before someone finally speaks.

"Hot damn that was amazing," Kurt whispers out before he starts clapping enthusiastically. The rest of the group finally snap out of their shock and follow his example and I finally let out the breath I had been holding.

"Kurt's right Rayden, that was fantastic!" Mr. Shue tells me as he claps me on the shoulder.

"Thank you," I say before heading back towards my seat.

"That was hot," Santana mutters to Brittany and Quinn. I smirk as I hear it and fist bump Noah before focusing on Mr. Shue.

* * *

"COD at mine tonight bro," Noah tells me once glee's over.

"Who's all going to be there?" I question, knowing that if I go Chord will be coming to. "My boy Finn, Santana, and Quinn," Noah says and I stop walking and laugh.

"Did you just say Santana and Quinn?" I question in amusement.

"Yeah I did. They're freaking sick bro. Trust me."

"Alright, but you do know that if I go-"

"When you come," Noah interrupts me. I roll my eyes at him.

"Whatever. You know that Chord's coming with right? I mean I could get my dads to watch him, but I won't. I miss him enough during school as it is, and now add on glee and football," when I mention football Noah's face brightens in excitement, "after school and I'm going through withdraws," I semi joke.

"That's cool dude, I figured that'd be the case anyway. Are you comfortable with letting other people know about him though?" he asks.

"I'm not ashamed of my son Noah, so no I don't have any problems with other people knowing about him."

"Are you sure? Cause this morning...?"

"It's a long story and it's still a sore topic," I say with a shrug as we make it to our cars.

"So I'll see you at five?" Noah asks, hope and excitement shining in his eyes.

"Yeah Jewbro I'll see you then," I tell him before hopping in my jeep and heading home.

"How was the rest of your day?" Daddy asks as soon as I walk into the living room. I immediately scoop Chord out of his bouncer and kiss all over his face, cause him to squeal in excitement.

"It was good. I decided to join the football team along with the glee club. This means I'm going to continue my lunch trips home, cause I really don't think I can go that long without seeing my monkey man," I start telling him and end up cooing the rest to Chord.

"That's fine son, and I'm glad you've changed your mind about them," he tells me as he stands from the couch and walks into the kitchen.

"Well you and Dad are right. I am still a teenager. Also when I thought about it, not many parents are as awesome as you guys, so if you want me to continue with showchoir and football then who am I to say no," I say as I follow him. I accept the glass of water and chug over half of it before walking back into the living room with him.

"That's true. We're also a little selfish in wanting you to continue, cause we enjoy going to your competitions and games just as much as you enjoy performing and playing in them," he tells me with a smirk.

"Thanks," I say with a playfully dramatic eyeroll. "Oh, I told Noah I'd go play videogames with him today, and I was wondering if that was ok?"

"Do you need us to watch Chord?"

"No I'ma take him. I want Ruth, Jake, and Sarah to meet him, and I also missed him like crazy and I don't want to be separated from him anymore today," I say as I stand up.

"I don't see any harm in that, just please let me know when you get there and when you're leaving."

"I can do that pops. Thanks," I say as I head upstairs to get ready.

I change out of my school clothes and pull on a pair of purple and black basketball shorts, a black muscle shirt,and a pair of black flip-flops. I brush my hair back from my face and cover it with my purple NY snapback and then I trade out my contacts for my black framed nerd glasses. Once I'm done I pick up Chord from his spot on my bed, surrounded by pillows, and head into his nursery to get his things ready.

After fixing his diaper bag, which includes everything he's going to need, I redress him into a black onsie with different colored monkeys all over it and strap him into his carseat. I cover him with a blanket and head downstairs to tell my dad bye.

**Reviews? Please? I really like reading your feedback. Also the song is called "Tomorrow" by Chris Young. I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading! = )**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks for all of the alerts and reviews for this story and I hope you enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Chord, and my other originals.**_

As I stand on the Puckerman front porch, I have to admit to myself that I'm actually quite a bit nervous for Ruth to meet Chord. She was the mom I never had when I was growing up, and I don't want her to be disappointed in me. I won't ever apologize for having my son, but her opinion always has and always will matter to me.

"Hey," is said from right next to me and I jump about a mile and a half in the air. I immediately make sure that Chord's ok before looking over to who spoke. It's the giant guy from glee.

"Hi," I say after clearing my throat.

"Ray, right?" the guy asks politely.

"Yeah, and I don't believe we've actually been introduced," I say, holding out my hand.

"Finn Hudson," he tells me with a grin as he shakes my hand. "So are you going in or...?"

"Oh! Yeah I am," I say as I open the door and step inside. I hold it open for him, and after a quick thanks he heads upstairs while I go into the kitchen. I grab a couple of sodas before following Finn upstairs and when I walk into Noah's room I can't _not_ laugh.

Santana has Noah in a headlock, which is incredibly hot, Jake and Quinn are talking shit to eachother as they play, and poor Finn seems like he's lost. I'm laughing at them for over a minute before Jake finally turns his head and notices me.

"Ray!" he shouts and immediately leaves his game to tackle me into a hug.

"Hey Jake," I say with a smirk that quickly falls away when Chord lets out a piercing cry.

"Is that a baby?" Santana questions in confusion, Noah still securely under her arm.

"Uh...yeah. He's mine," I tell them as I untangle myself from Jake and go grab my son from his carseat. I bounce and rock him for a few moments, talking to him and trying to sooth him, and once he's finally calm I look up to see everyone staring at me.

"Yours as in your brother, or yours as in...you know, _yours_?" Santana questions curiously. Quinn, Finn, and Jake all stare at me with rapt attention, also wanting to know.

"He's, uh, he's mine. As in he's my son," I say, a little worried about their reactions.

"He's so cute!" Jake squeals before clearing his throat and looking around the room in embarrassment. "I mean how old is he?"

"He's three months," I tell him in between chuckles as I look around the room to gauge the others reactions. Quinn looks curious, as does Finn, and Santana looks disappointed. My smile falls from my face at seeing her look, but I force one back on. "Any questions?"

"What's his name?" Finn asks, still staring at my son.

"Chord Efran Berry," I tell them with pride. I see Santana smile at hearing his name and my smile goes from fake to real.

"That's so cute. So does his mom go to our school too?" Quinn asks as she stands from the floor. I look over at Santana and smile slightly at the jealousy in her eyes. I then look down for a moment and take a deep breath.

"Um...no she doesn't. You remember the song I sang for my audition right?" I ask them and at their nods I continue. "It was about her. We had some disagreements over what to do with Chord once he was born, and long story short, she gave up her rights and he's with me."

"Wait she just left her kid for you to take care of alone?" Santana asks, anger in her eyes. I smile slightly, before taking another deep breath and clarifying.

"Not exactly. She wanted to give him to her sister and her husband, because they can't have kids. I wanted to keep him. Most of the pregnancy we were fighting about that, and the fact that they kept trying to deny my rights as a father. I finally just ended it a few months before he was born, and after he was born they tried to get me to sign away my rights. I refused, which got them uber pissed, and once Chord was released from the hospital we moved back here."

Santana looks even more pissed then before I explained, and I can't help but feel a warmth settle in my stomach at her being angry about the way I was treated. "That's complete bullshit," she growls out. Quinn, Finn, and Jake all nod at her statement.

"So who wants to get their ass kicked in COD?" I question to break up the tension that's filling the room. Everyone jumps at the chance of diffusing an angry Santana and immediately settle around the tv to play.

"Can I hold him?" Santana asks as she sits down next to me on the floor.

"Course," I tell her with a beaming smile. I gently hand Chord over to her and watch in adoration as she talks and coos and plays with him.

"Hey Noah, where's Sarah and mama Ruth?" I asks around an hour later. I'm currently playing the game with Finn, Noah, Jake, and Quinn, and Santana's still hogging my son. She's fascinated with him and I couldn't be more thrilled.

"Ma's at work and Sarah's at a friends house for the night," he answers distractedly. "Fuck yeah baby! No one can mess with the Puckasauras!" he shouts as he gets the last kill that wins the match for our team.

"Puck!" Santana and Quinn yell at him in anger and annoyance. He startled Chord with his outburst, and as I reach for him to take him from Santana she turns away so I can't. I pout at being denied my own child, but then smile as she manages to calm him down quickly.

"You're good with him," I tell her as I scoot closer to them.

"Thanks. I have a four year old brother," she explains as Chord tries to suck on her finger. She pulls it away from him and places his pacie in his mouth instead.

"Really? What's his name?" I ask as I watch Chord watch Santana.

"Alejandro, but we call him Alex."

"Hey San are you going to play?" Noah asks as they wait for another map to load. She looks torn for a moment before Quinn crawls over and take Chord from her.

"Hey! What the hell Tubbers?" Santana pouts.

"Go play. You've been hogging him for over an hour now and I wanna see him," Quinn tells her, pointing over to her abandoned controller. Santana scowls at her for a moment before giving in and crawling over to sit next to Noah.

I watch her go, completely enjoying the view, and turn to face Quinn when I hear her snicker. "What?" I ask, already knowing her answer.

"You already know," she tells me with an eyebrow raise before focusing on Chord, who's absolutely loving all the attention he's getting.

A few hours later I hear the front door open and immediately jump up in excitement. I can't wait to see mama Ruth again. I gently take Chord from Santana, who managed to steal him from Quinn, again, for like the fourth time, and head from the room and down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs I see Ruth head into the kitchen and I follow quietly. I sneak up behind her and stand a few feet back, for Chord's safety, and shout "Boo!" She turns around quickly with a frightened scream, and once she sees that it was me who scared her she screams again, this time in excitement.

"Rayden!" she exclaims as she pulls me into a tight hug. I don't hug her back because I'm trying to make sure my son doesn't get squished, and once she realizes something's wrong she pulls back. She looks down and sees the baby and smiles gently. "This must be Chord."

"Huh?" I ask her stupidly. I didn't think she knew anything about him. I mean yeah we kept in touch but I was always too afraid to tell her about him.

"Sweetie did you really think that your dads wouldn't tell me about him?" she asks me as she takes him from my arms.

"I...well...honestly no, I didn't think they did," I tell her with a shrug once I snap out of my shock.

"They called me when you first told them about getting that..._girl_, pregnant. Then they kept me updated. You have no idea how much I wanted to fly to New York and beat some sense into her and her family," Ruth tells me in anger as she bounces Chord in her arms lightly.

"Trust me Ma I know how you feel," I tell her with a smile as I watch them interact. Everyone's reacting better than I thought they would and because of this I feel all giddy.

"You can go back upstairs and play with your friends, I'll take care of him for a bit," she tells me as she grabs her juice she poured before I scared her and walks into the living room.

"Are you sure?" I question, knowing her answer already.

"Of course I am, now shoo. Leave me and my grandson alone," she orders me and I salute her before going back upstairs.

"Where's Chord?" Santana and Quinn ask as soon as I walk into the room without him.

"Oh I see how it is, you only want me around for my son," I scoff playfully.

"Duh..." Santana answers, her eyes never leaving the screen.

"He's downstairs. Ruth demanded that I leave him with her, so sorry San," I say as I take a seat beside her. She mock glares at me quickly before turning back to the game.

* * *

"Hey baby boy," I coo as I walk into Chord's nursery. I pick him up out of his crib and change him before heading downstairs to feed him. I'm only in a pair of gray sweats, having just finished my workout.

"Hey Daddy," I greet as I walk into the kitchen. I head over to the fridge to grab a bottle when my Dad walks into the room and takes Chord from me. "Hey!" I pout.

"You stink. Go take a shower and get dressed and then you can spend some time with him before school starts," Dad orders me as he pops Chord's bottle into the microwave. I walk out of the room pouting and head upstairs to get ready.

Twenty minutes later I'm standing in front of my mirror in a pair of khaki cargo shorts, a plain black v-neck, and my black chucks. I'm putting in my black tongue ring and debating on whether or not to start gauging my ears. I also want another tattoo, but I don't know if I can convince them to let me get another one. The only reason they let me get the one that I have when I turned fifteen was because it's a family thing. My Dad and Daddy both have the word equality tattooed on them, and I wanted that as well. Dad has it on his on the inside of his right upper arm, Daddy has it on his right pec, and I have it on my left wrist.

"Hey dads? Can I get another tattoo?" I ask as I walk into the kitchen with my bag slung over my shoulder. I drop my bag at the table and grab Chord from my Dad as I sit down. Him and Daddy share a look before Daddy sits a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of me.

"Depends..." Daddy answers slowly as he sits at the table with us.

"On?" I urge after I swallow my mouthful of food.

"On when you want it and what you want," Dad answers.

"Soon? And I'm thinking of getting his feet print and name over my heart," I tell them, staring down at my, now sleeping, son.

"We'll think about it ok?" Daddy answers. I give them a nod as I stand up and take my plate over to the sink.

I hand Chord over to Dad after telling him bye, say a quick bye to my dads, and walk into the garage. I hop in my truck and head to school, excited for football tryouts later. These kids ain't gonna know what hit em when I get on the field.

**Please review, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed = )**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks to all of my readers who alert and review, and just thanks in general for reading my stories. Hope you enjoy and please review.**

**_Disclaimer: Glee's not mine..._**

As I pull into the parking lot I see the Cheerios practicing on the field, and I smile as I get out of my jeep and hear Santana yelling at the others. I stand and listen to her for a few moments before walking into the school and into the guys locker room. I walk over to the coach's office and stop short at seeing a woman there.

"Hello?" I question hesitantly as I knock on the door. She doesn't look up from some paperwork she's looking over but waves me in.

"What can I do for you?" she asks, finally looking away from the papers in front of her.

"Um...Well I'm Rayden Berry and I was hoping to join the team," I tell her nervously.

"What position?" she questions.

"Running back ma'am."

"Alright. Show up to practice today and we'll see what you've got kid," she tells me before looking back at her papers. I recognize the dismissal and leave with a "Thanks coach".

Back in the hall I see Kurt and Finn talking to Mercedes and Puck so I head in their direction. Only to be stopped by Karofsky and Azimio. Joy.

"Yes?" I question expectantly.

"Have you talked to coach yet?" Azimio asks.

"I have. I'm joining your practice today and she's taking that as my try-out," I tell them while looking pointedly towards the group of gleeks, which now have Tina and Mike among them.

"'Kay cool," Karofsky says and then they both walk away. I continue on my way to the group, shaking my head in annoyance.

The group hasn't spotted me yet so I manage to sneak up behind Noah and wrap my arms around him while whispering "Hey sexy" into his ear. He jumps and spins around quickly ready to punch someone, but once he sees me he calms down.

"Don't do that bro. You almost got the shit punched out of you," he tells me with a glare while the others laugh.

"Please Noah, we all know that I can take you without breaking a sweat," I tease. It is true though. I've taken an extensive amount of kickboxing and self-defense classes. Noah just scoffs and turns back to the others without another word, cause he knows it's true.

"What's up bitches?" Santana asks as she appears beside me. I eye her from the corner of my eye and smile slightly.

"Nothing really. Finn and Kurt were just telling us of the party they're throwing on friday," Noah answers with a grin.

"Sweet. Is it a free-for-all, or just gleeks?" Santana asks, her grin matching the one on Noah's face.

"We were thinking just the gleeks, that way Ray here can get to know us and us him," Kurt answers with a smile towards me. I smile back and wonder if my dads would be ok watching Chord for a party. I don't want to take advantage of them.

"Sounds good. I'll bring the alcohol," Noah says excitedly before heading off towards a Cheerio that caught his eye. I just chuckle at my friend and turn to Santana as everyone else go their separate ways.

"So I heard you in practice this morning, you can scream pretty loud," I tell her as we walk towards her locker.

"Oh you have no idea," she tells me with a wink as we reach her locker and she puts in her combo. I just stare at her dumbfounded while all my blood rushes south. "You're drooling," she tells me as she shuts her locker with a loud slam. This brings me out of my perverted fantasy and I stare at her seriously.

"Can you blame me?" I ask her incredulously as we start walking towards first.

"No I really can't. I mean what can I say, I'm hot," she says cockily and I frown at her. "What?" she questions as we arrive at her door, having seen the look on my face.

"Nothing, it's just...you're more then hot. You're beautiful, gorgeous, incredible," I tell her, meeting her eye so she knows I'm serious. She looks to the ground with an embarrassed smile and a blush that I can see, even with her dark complexion. As she's looking back up the bell rings and I silently curse for being late. "I've gotta go but I'll see you next period," I tell her before running down the hallway.

* * *

I'm at my locker putting my things away and getting ready to head home for lunch when Santana walks up with Puck.

"Hey," I greet them as I close my locker.

"You're sitting with us at lunch," Santana orders with a grin.

"I can't," I tell her with an apologetic smile and her grin slides off of her face. It pains me to see that.

"Why not?" she asks, and I can see her throwing her walls up. I curse myself silently because she hasn't had them in place since yesterday at school.

"I'm going home to see Chord," I explain quickly and I can see her dropping them again. Thank Moses. "Did you want to go? I'm guessing Noah is since he's still standing here when there's food being served." I see Noah nod out of the corner of my eye as I focus on Santana.

"Sure. It'll be cool seeing the munchkin again," she tells me, grin back in place. I grin again as well and lead them both out to my jeep.

I walk into my house with Noah and Santana on my heels, literally, and head straight for the kitchen. I see Daddy at the stove making lunch and Chord on the table like yesterday. I head directly for Chord and scoop him out of his carseat, kissing him all over his face and making him giggle and squeal.

"Hey Daddy. How's he been?" I ask as I take a seat at the table. Noah and Santana join me as my daddy turns around to answer me.

"Oh! Hello, I'm Leroy," Daddy says upon seeing Santana beside me.

"Santana," she says with a nervous smile that I find adorable on her.

"Nice to meet you. He was amazing as always Ray," he finally answers me, turning back to the food on the stove. "I also ended up feeding him because he decided he didn't want to wait on you today."

"Aww...you didn't want daddy to feed you Monks?" I ask Chord with a pout. He looks at me for a moment before mimicking the pout on my face and I melt.

"You never should have shown him that face Ray," Santana tells me with a laugh after awwing at the adorableness that is my son.

"I know. I'm so screwed," I say still focusing on Chord's face. He's still doing the pout so I blow raspberries on his tummy to make him laugh. It works and when I look at his face again he's smiling. I look to my right and see Santana shifting around in her seat, so I hand her Chord knowing that's what she wanted. She gives me an excited and grateful smile before focusing on the baby.

I'm walking with Santana to her locker once we're back at school when I see some jock leaning against it. I hear Santana sigh next to me and I scowl at the dude. It's obvious he's someone Santana doesn't want to see at the moment. He sees my scowl and smirks at me as we reach her locker.

"What do you want Al?" Santana asks as she shoves him off of her locker to open it.

"You never called me back," he says, staring intently at her ass. It pisses me off but I keep my mouth shut. Barely.

"I'm aware," Santana drawls in a bored tone as she looks through her locker.

"Why?" the guy asks, his eyes still locked on Santana's ass.

"Didn't want to," she tells him in the same tone.

"Why the fuck not?" the guy asks again, finally dragging his eyes to the back of her head. Santana turns around and slams her locker shut at the guys tone. I have the biggest urge to jump in between her and the guy, but I manage to reign it in cause I don't think she'd appreciate it. I'm still on edge though.

"Because I didn't fucking want to. You did nothing for me. Now run the fuck along and find some girl who actually wants a four inch dick and a lousy fuck," Santana spits out venomously and with a glare that has me wanting to hide.

The guy's now red with embarrassment and rage as people laugh at what Santana said to him. He takes a step towards her and I immediately jump in front of her and shove the dude back. "Back the hell up now," I tell him with a glare. He looks between me and Santana for a few seconds before flipping us both off and walking down the hallway.

"I can take care of myself you know," Santana says as soon as I turn to face her. She's still wearing that scary as fuck glare, but I muster up my courage and go on like it's not there.

"Yeah I figured, but you shouldn't have to," I tell her with a shrug. She stares at me for a moment before smiling slightly.

"Thank you," she tells me as we start walking towards our class.

"My pleasure," I say in an english accent as I take her books from her, ignoring her protests.

* * *

I'm in the locker room with Noah and Finn getting ready for practice when I see the guy, Al I think his name was, from earlier. I immediately want nothing more then to punch his sorry as in the nose, but I know I can't if I want to be on the team.

"Hey what position does that dude play?" I ask, pointing towards Al.

"He's the running-back," Finn answers with a scowl. I smirk as I notice it, happy that I'm not the only one who doesn't like the dude.

"You don't like him," I say. It's not a question cause it's obvious he doesn't.

"Fuck no. The dude's always picking on Kurt. He also thinks he's gods gift to women too," Finn answers as he finishes getting dressed.

"Yeah, and anyway everyone knows that _I'm_ god's gift to women, not him. I don't know how many times I've had to put the guy in his place. It's starting to get old," Noah adds as he's lacing up his cleats.

"Huh..." I mumble. The guy's not even very good looking, so it's kinda weird to hear that his ego's as big as it is.

"What?" Noah asks, seeing the look on my face as I stare at the guy.

"He tried to intimidate Santana after lunch, so I'm pretty pissed at the guy. I can't wait to take his spot," I answer with an evil grin. I give Al a little finger wave and a smirk as we pass him on our way to the field and he just glares.

"You do know that San can take care of herself right?" Noah asks once we're out of the locker room.

"I know but just like I told her, she shouldn't have to," I say with a shrug.

After warm-ups coach sets up a scrimmage with the first-string offense paired with the second-string defense, and the second-string offense paired with the first-string defense. I see the coaches logic in this and I think it's a brilliant idea and strategy. She also moves Al to the second-string offense for the moment, which pisses him off and amuses me to no end, and places me in the first-string.

"It's cute how you're crushing on the school's bicycle," Al shouts as I'm running onto the field. I immediately turn around and am fixing to rush him when Noah and Finn grab the back of my jersey to hold me in place.

"No," Noah tells me firmly.

"Just take his spot on the team," Finn says as they drag me to the huddle. I'm fuming as they call the play and we get into formation, so as soon as the ball's snapped and in my hands I take off like a bat out of hell. I stiff arm the guy coming at me from my right and barrel into the one in front of me. He wasn't prepared for it so it knocks him off balance and I push him down. I'm able to slip past the other two defenders and make the touchdown, much to the amazement of the coach.

"That was for you Ally!" I call out to Al with a smirk, who looks like he's fixing hit something. I also catch Santana's eye as she and the other Cheerios stare at me and I wink.

**Hope you enjoyed that. Please review, you know leave some feedback, suggestions, anything that you please. Thanks for reading = )**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I apologize for the wait between chapters and also for the length of this one, but I'm going through some pretty rough writers block at the moment. Hopefully you guys enjoy this chapter and please review.**

_**Disclaimer: Glee's not mine.**_

"That was pretty impressive," Santana tells me from where she's leaning against my jeep.

"That's not the only impressive thing I can do," I flirt with a wink as I throw my duffel into the back of my jeep before standing in front of her.

"Is that so?" she flirts back, running her finger down my arm with a flirtatious grin.

"Oh it's so," I reply coolly before stepping around her and over to the passenger's side of my jeep. "Need a ride?" I ask, trying to hold in my laughter at the surprised look on her face.

"Um...sure. Thanks," she says as she walks around and climbs inside.

"My pleasure beautiful," I say with a wink as I shut her door and walk to my side.

"So how's Chord?" she tries to ask nonchalantly.

"You mean since you've seen him at lunch?" I question, laughter lacing my voice and covering my face.

"No I mean in general," she tells me with a scowl, and I nod at her answer.

"He's good actually. He just had a check-up last week and the Dr. said he's developing fine."

"That's good. I know a lot of pre-mature babies develop some kind of sickness, so I'm glad everything's going good with him.

"As am I," I tell her with a soft smile.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks self-consciously.

"Nothing. It's just I like how you've taken to Chord as fast as you did. I mean I had some friends back in New York who quit talking to me completely cause I got someone pregnant," I explain so I don't come off as a creeper, and even though that answer's partially true, it's not the whole truth. I really love that the girl I like has taken to my son as quickly as she did.

"Oh, well he's adorable so what's not to like?"

"I honestly don't know. Oh where exactly am I taking you?" I ask after a moment of silence. I just realized that I have no idea where she lives.

"Your house," she tells me with a grin.

"My house? Why?" I ask in confusion.

"Chord," she answers with a shrug and a smirk. Of course. I just grin and shake my head, turning on the radio and singing along.

"Daddy I'm home," I call out as Santana and I walk into the house.

"In the living room," he calls back. Santana pushes past me and is in the living room before I can take a step, and I gape in disbelief. Wow.

"Hello Santana," I hear Daddy greet her, followed by a quick "Hey Leroy." I shake my head and finally make my way into the living room to see Santana laying on the floor with Chord and playing with him, well as much as you can play with a three month old anyway.

The sight's so amazing that I don't say anything when I enter, I just lean against the doorway and watch them. I knew there was something different, special, about Santana from the moment I saw her, and I was right. Watching her interact with Chord, she's a _completely_ different person then the one she acts like at McKinley. More gentle, genuine, _real_. This is the person I want to get to know, hopefully date.

"Why are you just standing there?" Daddy questions, breaking my out of my thoughts.

"Just thinking," I tell him honestly as I go and sit on the other side of Chord and Santana. "Hey I was wondering, and if not then it's totally cool, but I was wondering if I could go to a glee party on friday?"

"Glee party?" Daddy questions in confusion and curiosity.

"Yeah it's a party, but it's only for the people in our glee club," Santana explains, continuing to play with Chord. I smile at them both in adoration for a moment before turning back to my dad.

"Yeah, I think it's an overnight thing, but-"

"It's fine Ray. You go and have fun and we'll watch Chord for you," Daddy tells me, interrupting me.

"Yeah?" I ask in excitement, and at his nod I jump up and hug him. "Thanks Daddy."

* * *

"So thank you for letting me stay and hang out," Santana says, surprisingly shyly, as I pull into her driveway.

"Are you kidding? I should be thanking you for _wanting_ to hang out," I reply as I turn to face her with a grin.

"You're weird," she tells me with a chuckle and I give her a mock offended look.

"How so ma'am?"

"I don't know. I mean you're different from most guys that I've hung around, and I definitely wasn't expecting you to be the way you are. Especially since you have a kid." I give her a soft smile at her answer.

"Yeah, well, that's just how I was raised. My dads always taught me to always be myself, and to always have respect towards everyone," I answer with a small shrug.

"Well, I really like it," she says in a whisper as she slowly starts to lean towards me. My breath hitches in excitement as I copy her movements, having to force myself to hold back and not immediately crash our lips together.

"Well I really like you," I murmur out, barely audible, once we're just a few millimeters apart. She's frozen now, waiting on me to make the leap, and I can feel her breath on my lips. I lean in slowly, my eyes locked with hers, which are slightly darker then normal.

_This is what it's all about, no one can slow us down. We ain't gonna stop until the clock runs out. (Bottoms up) Hell can't handle all of us, so get your bottles up. Drinkin' every drop until it all runs out.__'__Nother round, fill 'er up, hammer down, grab a cup, bottoms up!_

Santana and I jump away from eachother in surprise as my phone rings loudly and I curse Noah under my breath.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Santana tells me, disappointment clear in her tone. I sigh before leaning forward and gently kissing her cheek.

"Bye," I tell her quietly with a soft smile as she opens her door and hops out. I watch her as she walks to her door, and once she opens it she turns to me with small wave.

"What?" I growl into my phone as I finally answer it.

_"Damn bro, what's up your ass?"_ Noah asks, laughter in his voice.

"You cockblocking me," I tell him with an annoyed groan as I pull out of Santana's driveway and head home.

_"Say what?_" Noah quickly asks in surprise.

"I just dropped Santana off at her house. She spent the afternoon at mine with me and Chord, and we were having a moment when you called," I explain, a bitterness in my tone.

_"My bad bro. You'll get your girl though so no worries,"_ he tries to reassure me. I roll my eyes with a smile.

"I know I will, I mean have you seen me? Anyways, did you want something?"

_"Yeah, I was wanting to know if you're goin' to the party on friday?"_

"Yeah I asked my dads and they said it was cool," I tell him as I park in my driveway and kill the engine.

_"Cool. So, you and Lopez? You move fast bro,"_ Noah says, and I can picture him waggling his eyebrows.

"Yeah. I don't know what it is about her dude, but...yeah," I sigh out wistfully, a huge grin on my face.

_"It's her knockers,"_ Noah answers, and I can hear the smirk in his voice.

"Say anything like that again and I'll kick your ass," I growl out, playful mood gone.

_ "Calm down Jewbro, it was a joke."_

"Don't care," I grunt as I get out of my jeep and head towards my house.

_ "Fine,"_ he tells me and I can hear the pout in his voice. I smirk at his childishness and open my front door.

"Yes I'm going to the party, don't say anything inappropriate about Santana anymore...ever, and I'll talk to you tomorrow," I tell him before hanging up the phone after his goodbye.

**Hope you liked it even though it was short, please review cause they make me happy, and thanks for reading! = )**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yay a new chapter! Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and alerted this story so far, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter = )**

_**Disclaimer: Glee's not mine**_

"Hello Rayden, did you find it ok?" Kurt asks as he opens his front door and waves me inside.

"Hey Kurt, and yeah I did, thanks," I say as I walk in and drop my sleeping bag and backpack next to the pile of others. I follow him into the living room and see that I'm the last person to arrive. "Sorry for the wait guys, I wanted to feed Chord and bathe him before I left," I explain, getting a bunch of confused looks.

"Who's Chord?" Brittany asks in confusion from her spot snuggled into Quinn. I know the others were wanting to ask and I smirk at their cowardice.

"He's my son Britt," I say, holding my breath for everyone's reactions.

"Ok cool," she tells me with a shrug, leaning further into Quinn.

"Wait, son?" Mercedes questions wearily from her spot beside Kurt and Finn. I sit beside Santana and lean my head on her shoulder before nodding.

"How do you have a son?" Kurt asks.

"Well Kurt, when a man and a woman-"

"I didn't mean it that way!" Kurt squeals, stopping my explanation. "I meant...well..." he trails off, not knowing how to word his question.

"What he means is where's your baby mama?" Mercedes jumps in and I tense. Santana shoots me a confused look as Noah looks at me sympathetically.

"She's not in the picture," is all I say. Mercedes looks like she's going to question me further until Tina jumps in with a different question.

"How old is he Ray? He can't be to old unless you had him at thirteen." I chuckle at that, and give her a grateful smile as I answer.

"Na, he was actually born on my sixteenth birthday, which was on June 3rd, so he just turned three months."

"Aww so he's still tiny," Tina coos and I just chuckle and nod.

"He's super tiny Tina," Quinn says causing Britt to look back at her with a pout.

"I wanna see the baby. How come you've seen him and I haven't," Britt asks Quinn, pout still firmly in place.

"He brought him to game night on monday," Quinn answers, and when Britt's pout only deepens she tries again. "I'm sorry baby, but I'm sure Ray will let you see him anytime you want." This causes Britt to smile, peck Quinn's lips quickly, and then turn to me expectantly. Santana and Quinn are glaring at me, but there's no need cause it's damn near impossible to tell Brittany no. I mean I've only been here a week and I already know that.

"Of course you can B. Just say when. And I might even bring him to a couple of practices if you guys wouldn't mind," I say. This causes everyone to start agreeing and asking things all at once. It makes me insanely happy to have everyone accept Chord.

"Ok! I'm bored bitches so lets bring out the alcohol," Santana says loudly, interrupting everyone's agreements and questions. Everyone gets quiet as Finn, Kurt, and Noah get up to bring the drinks and food into the living room.

"Who wants to play truth or dare?" Finn asks once everyone's seated again and we all have drinks.

"I'm down," I say with a half shrug. Santana's now the one leaning on me and I don't want to dislodge her head. Everyone else agrees and we have Finn start off since it was his suggestion.

"Ok...Mike. Truth or dare?"

"Um...lets go with a dare," he says cautiously.

"I dare you to go next door to Susan's house in only your boxers and ask to borrow some whipped cream," Finn tells him with a smirk and I can't help but be impressed.

"Damn it," Mike groans out quietly as he stands and strips. I can see Tina unabashedly roaming her eyes over his body and licking her lips, and I chuckle quietly. Everyone rushes to the windows to look and we all burst into laughter as we see him almost running back to the house, whipped cream in his hand a few minutes later.

"So..." Noah drawls, waiting for a red Mike to speak as he drops the whipped cream on the couch and begins to pull his clothes on.

"She asked if she could join," he squeaks out in embarrassment. Tina huffs angrily at that but smiles as Mike hides himself in her shoulder. I take a swig of my beer to hide my grin as we wait for Mike to pick a person.

"Artie. Truth or dare?" Mike finally asks, emerging from Tina's shoulder.

"Truth," Artie says quickly.

"Are you a virgin?" Mike questions.

"No," Artie tells us with a shy smile. "Kurt. Truth or dare?"

"I'm actually kind of afraid to pick either one," Kurt mutters before closing his eyes and thinking. "Truth."

"Did you and Finn ever contemplate breaking up because of your parents?" Artie questions, leaning forward in his chair. Everyone but me mimics his position as we wait for an answer. I'm just confused.

"Honestly yes...but then our parents sat us down and told us that they weren't expecting it seeing as we were in a relationship for close to six months before they got together," Kurt answers as Finn pulls him into his side with a small smile.

"Wait, so you two are together?" I ask in surprise.

"Yup. We've been together since freshman year, but we're not out at school yet," Finn says with a sad smile. I can tell that's a sore subject for him so I let it drop with a quick smile and nod.

"Brittany," Kurt says.

"Dare," Brittany answers immediately.

"I dare you to give Rayden a lap dance," Kurt says and before the words are even fully out of his mouth Santana and Quinn are glaring daggers at him, and I'm trying to contain my smile, cause I mean c'mon! It's a free lapdance and Britt's hot.

"Ok!" Britt says excitedly as she jumps up and rushes over to me. Someone begins playing 'Down on Me' and then she begins grinding on me. By the time the song is over Santana and Quinn are livid, and I'm again trying to contain my smile. I'm to young to die and I have a kid to take care of.

"That was hot," Noah murmurs and then yelps in pain as Quinn socks him in the arm. I hold in my laughter at him as to not draw attention to myself.

"Ray!" Brittany calls excitedly.

"Yes B?" I question.

"Truth or dare silly."

"Truth."

"Is it true that you like Sanny? You know as more than a friend?" she questions innocently. I narrow my eyes at her playfully, letting her know that I know what she's doing. She just turns up her innocent factor, which I didn't think would be possible, and winks at me. I look around the room quickly to see everyone staring at me, and when I lock eyes with Santana I can see hope and excitement swirling in hers.

"Yup," I answer casually, a soft smile on my face. I hear Britt squeal in the background excitedly, but my eyes never leave Santana's beaming face.

"Ray it's your turn," Noah calls out and I reluctantly look away from Santana. I grab her hand loosely, so she can pull away if she wants, and she tangles our fingers and tightens her hold.

"Noah. Truth or Dare?" I ask through the huge ass grin on my face. It's insane the kinds of reactions she can get out of me by doing the smallest of things.

* * *

"Hey. What are you doing out here?" Santana questions tiredly as she walks onto the back porch. It's around four in the morning and she looks like she just woke up, which is adorable. She's also wearing a pout, seeing as I was her cuddle buddy when she went to sleep a few hours ago. It's one of the cutest sights, besides Chord, that I've ever seen.

"I couldn't sleep," I say as I look back at the stars with a goofy smile.

"Are you ok?" she asks as she sits beside me on the porch swing. My entire body fills up with elation and giddiness at her concern for me.

"Yeah. I'm just thinking."

"About...?" she prompts. I smile slightly as I think of what to tell her. I finally decide to go with the cliffnotes version of the truth.

"Chord, you, Broadway, New York, Erica, my best friend from New York, my dads, and that's basically it."

"Holy shit. It's no wonder you can't sleep," she breaths out in surprise. I chuckle at her and wrap my arm around her shoulder. "You said me...What about me?"

"A lot of things, but mostly about whether or not you'd say yes to going on a date with me."

"I would, you know. Say yes if you asked me," she tells me and I grin.

"So will you? Go on a date with my on sunday?" I ask excitedly.

"Hm...I don't know, I might have plans," she answers and my smile instantly falls. She notices my sullen expression and chuckles softly before kissing my cheek. "I'm joking you goof. Of course I'll go out with you on sunday."

"That was mean," I say, trying to pout but failing because of my smile threatening to break free and take over my entire face.

"I think you'll live," she mocks as a shiver runs through her. I wordlessly take off my leather jacket and hold it out for her to put on. "I'm fine...Ray seriously I'm ok..._Fine_," she finally sighs out after I don't take no for an answer.

"Thank you," I say, kissing the top of her head as we snuggle back together, her head on my shoulder with her arm around my waist and my arm around her shoulders.

"I should be the one telling you that," she points out. We sit in comfortable silence after that for so long that I think Santana fell asleep again, but she breaks the silence with another question. "Who's Erica?"

"Erica...she's Chord's egg donor," I answer with a sigh.

"What happened with her? I mean I know it's something bad, otherwise she'd still be in his life and you wouldn't freeze up whenever she's mentioned." I take a deep breath and stare up at the sky, and I guess I'm quiet for a while because she turns to stare at me. She looks like she's going to speak again but I beat her to it, still staring at the stars.

"She didn't want to be his mom but she did want him in her life, so she wanted to give him to her sister and her husband because they can't have kids. I didn't want that. I wanted my son to be exactly that, _my son_. Not some kid that I could visit on the weekends that would call me Ray. We fought over that for basically her entire pregnancy, and I finally couldn't take it anymore so we broke up around seven months in. I quit trying to make her see it my way and told her as we were breaking up that I wasn't giving him up. She told me that I didn't get a say anyway, so it didn't matter that I didn't agree with it."

"That's _bullshit_," Santana says in anger and disbelief. I smile sadly at the sky before taking a deep breath and continuing.

"I know that now, but I didn't then. I was a mess for days before my dads got back from their trip and reassured me that I had a say. We hired a lawyer and went about everything that was necessary, and then once Chord was born I refused to sign my rights away. We then moved here to get away from them not to long after Chord was released from the hospital, and the rest is history."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Santana whispers. I finally look at her and smile gently.

"Thank you. It's fine though. All that matters is I now have Chord permanently and Erica does not." Santana snuggles back into me and we watch the sun rise.

**There ya go. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you lots for reading. Please review in that pretty little box below. Also I'm thinking about giving Puck a love interest, so who would you rather see him with? Sam, Mercedes, an OC, or no one? Lets me know peas.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to all of the people who have reviewed and/or left alerts. Also just thanks in general to the people who have taken the time to read my stories. There's an overload of Pezberry fluff in this chapter so I hope you enjoy. = )**

_**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the plot, Chord, and my other OCs.**_

I slowly come to consciousness because of an uncomfortable jabbing sensation in my right side. I open my eyes blearily only to snap them shut quickly as the morning sun assaults my sensitive corneas. It also doesn't help that I slept in my contacts, which are now uncomfortably dry. The jabbing still hasn't ceased, so I force my eyes open and glare at the offender.

"My bad dude but your phone's been ringing off the hook," Finn quickly states, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. I grunt as I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head around softly, trying to comprehend what was just said. I then spot my phone in Finn's left hand and hold my hand out for it.

"Thanks man," I whisper, so as to not wake Santana who's sleeping with her head on my shoulder.

"No problem bro. There's also coffee and food in the house," Finn tells me with a half smile before walking back into the house.

I quickly check the time and see that it's only eight-thirty, and I notice that I have several missed calls and voice messages from an unknown number. That's weird. I yawn loudly and stretch the best I can without jostling Santana too much, deciding that since it's not my dads calling about Chord it can wait until I've had coffee. Lots and lots and lots of coffee.

"Santana...San...Santi...Tana...beautiful...gorgeous...," I whisper, lightly shaking Santana to try and wake her but it doesn't seem to be working. Hmm...What to do...Ah ha! This might get me killed but it'll be hilarious while it lasts.

I gently twist myself around and pause for a moment when she lets out a sigh. She's smiling so I'm going to take the sigh as good thing. I continue to stare at her, she looks so beautiful with how at peace and content she looks, with her hair a mess, in sweats and with no make-up on, and I can't help but pull my phone back out and snapping a quick picture. I quickly stow my phone back into my pocket before proceeding with my plan. I gently grip both of her sides before beginning to tickle her mercilessly.

"Ahh! Stop! Ahahaha! _Stop it_! _**Rayden stop!**_ RAY! Hahahaha! Quit!" she screams out immediately and I can't help but laugh along with her and her weak attempts at getting me to stop. "Really Ray quit! I'm gonna pee! _Stop I'm gonna pee_!"

I quickly stop my tickle attack on her and continue to chuckle as she tries to regain her breath. It takes a few minutes but once her breathing steadies she levels me with a glare that has me sprinting into the house and hiding behind Noah.

"Get back here you ass!" she yells from behind me. I can hear the laughter in her voice, but that doesn't mean I'm taking any chances.

"Save me Noah!" I squeal as I grab his arms and use him as a human shield. Santana and I dance around Noah for a few moments before she lunges and I take off into the kitchen.

"Get back here and take it like a man Berry," Santana shouts. I just chuckle before diving in between Finn and Quinn as they talk at the kitchen table. I crawl as fast as I can under the table and have to stifle my laughter at their confused, and amused, faces.

"What the-" Finn begins.

"Shh! I'm hiding," I whisper, my finger on my lips to emphasize my point.

"Where is he?" Santana asks as she makes her way into the kitchen, a glare painting her face but her eyes shining with mirth.

"Under the table," Quinn tells her non-nonchalantly and my eyes widen in shock that she gave me away so quickly.

"Quinn!" I whine out as Santana drops to her knees and proceeds to crawl under the table. I sit still and let her crawl over to me, opening my arms in a silent invitation with a stupid and hopeful grin on my face. She smiles a sickly sweet smile and then punches me in the arm. Hard. I whimper with a pout on my face, again opening my arms towards her.

"You're a jerk," she murmurs as she finally sinks into my arms.

"Yeah, I know," I say as I squeeze her tightly and kiss the top of her head.

"Is he still alive down there?" Kurt asks as he sets something on the table in front of Finn. "I mean there was a whimper of pain and now it's quiet."

Santana goes to say something, no doubt a hilarious smart ass remark, but I place my finger to my lips before holding it up to signal her to wait. She cocks an eyebrow at me in curiosity and I smirk before quietly crawling to the edge of the table. I position myself so I'm able to spring up quickly and beckon her over to me to do the same. She understands what I'm wanting to do and positions herself in the same way, smirking the entire time. I give her a wink before silently counting to three.

"Boo!" we scream as we spring up from under the table. Kurt screeches loudly before throwing himself into Finn's lap, Finn almost falls out of his chair before he's able to steady himself and catch the flying Kurt, Quinn jumps pretty high in her seat and then scowls in our direction while trying to hold in her laughter, Noah stumbles backwards and is now sitting in Artie's lap from where they were walking into the kitchen, and the rest of the group is laughing their asses off along with us from the other's reactions.

"Oh...my...Cheesus!" Santana manages to gasp out in between her laughter. We both have to sit down because we're laughing to hard to stand.

"Oh damn...that was pretty awesome," I sigh out after I'm able to calm down, five minutes later. Santana's still chuckling quietly and Quinn's finally given up on her scowling.

* * *

"So I'll pick you up at two tomorrow?" I ask Santana as I'm standing in Kurt and Finn's driveway. Everyone beside Noah, Artie, and Mercedes are currently leaving because of other plans.

"Two sounds good. Are you taking me to lunch or something?" Santana questions with a shy smile on her face. Quinn and Brittany are intently staring at us through the car windows and I can't help but chuckle at their frustrated expressions, because even with their windows down we're talking soft enough that they can't hear.

"Or something," I reply with my patented smirk. Santana stares at me for a moment with a calculating look on her face and my smirk turns into a grin. "You're not going to be able to figure it out, but I will say this; wear something old and that you won't mind getting dirty. And also you'll need to bring an extra set of clothes as well."

"Come on Ray! You can't tell me something like that and then not tell me where we're going," Santana whines with a pout. This was spoken loud enough for Quinn and Britt to hear and I roll my eyes with a fond smile as they perk up slightly.

"I can and I will. Bye beautiful," I whisper as I kiss her on her cheek and walk over to my jeep. I wave as I pull out and breath a sigh of relief when Quinn's car is out of sight. I almost caved at San's pout and that wouldn't have be nice. I really want to surprise her with this date and I _really_ hope she likes it.

As soon as I walk into my house I'm assaulted with the amazing sound that is Chord's laughter and I can't help the smile that takes over my face. I hurriedly shed my shoes and drop my bag beside the door before heading into the living room, and I'm greeted with both of my dads on the floor playing with Chord.

"Hey," I greet as I join them on the floor. I immediately pull Chord into my arms and huge him to me tightly. Even though I was only away for a night I still missed him like crazy.

"Hey bud, how was your night?" Daddy asks as he stands up with an exaggerated groan. I roll my eyes at his dramatics, even though I'm just as bad.

"It was pretty awesome. I found out that Santana likes me, and she also agreed to go out with me tomorrow," I tell them with a beaming smile.

"Yeah? That's great son. Are you going to need us to watch Chord?" Dad questions as he crawls over to the sofa to sit with his back against it.

"Only if you don't already have plans, cause if you do I can ask Mama Ruth," I say, staring at Chord the entire time.

"Nonsense. I mean if Ruth is wanting to watch him, but otherwise it's not a problem," Daddy says as he walks back in from the kitchen. He's carrying a bottle, three glasses of tea, and a big bowl of popcorn. "We were just fixing to sit down and watch a couple of movies," he explains, seeing my questioning gaze on the popcorn.

"Awesome, lets do it," I say as I stand up and drop into my recliner. Daddy hands me Chord's bottle and my tea, and I begin to feed him as they set up the movie.

* * *

I'm standing on Santana's front porch dressed in a pair of faded and ripped jeans and a plain black v-neck, and I'm nervous as hell. I was able to get Brittany to tell me what Santana's favorite flower is, a lavender rose, so I have a bouquet of those. I finally build up the courage to ring the doorbell and am met with the sight of what looks to be her father. I gulp under his intimidating gaze and have to clear my throat a few times to be able to speak

"Um...H-hello sir. I'm Rayden Berry," I introduce myself and I hold my hand out for him to shake. He stares at it for a moment, then back to me with the same intense gaze, before shaking my hand. He squeezes my hand tightly and it kinda hurts, but I keep my eyes locked with his and don't let it show.

"Alejandro Lopez, Santana's father," he tells me in a no nonsense tone as he _finally_ releases my hand. "C'mon in, Tana should be about finished," he says as he turns around and walks into the house. I shake my hand out, mouthing an _ow_, as I step inside and he shuts the front door.

"You have a lovely home sir," I say as I follow him into the living room and take the seat across from him that he gestures towards.

"Thanks but the wife's the one who decorated, I just handed over my card," he tells me with a smirk and it's the exact same one as Santana's. I just smile nervously and wait for the 'talk' that's fixing to happen. "So...you're taking my Santana out on a date, is that correct?"

"Yes sir."

"What are your intentions towards her?"

"Honestly I just really like her sir. I have since the moment I first saw her in school," I tell him sincerely. He studies me for a moment, I guess to judge my sincerity, before nodding.

"She seems to really like you, so I'm going to leave you with some words of wisdom son...Hurt her and I hurt you," he tells me, completely serious. I swallow nervously before giving him a small smile.

"I won't sir, I promise."

"Good. So Santana tells us you're new in town?" he asks, his seriousness and threatening demeanor completely gone.

"Not really. I lived here about six years ago before we moved up to New York," I answer, completely at ease now that I know I'm not going to die.

"Really? If you don't mind me asking, what made you return?"

"Um...," I begin nervously, not wanting to lie to him but not wanting to tell him the truth either.

"Hello," an older woman says from the entryway into the living room. I immediately jump up and hold out my hand towards her, introducing myself.

"Hello ma'am I'm Rayden Berry."

"Nice to meet you Rayden. I'm Maribel Lopez, Santana's mother," she tells me as she shakes my hand. She gives me a warm smile before going and sitting at her husbands side. "I hope you're not giving him to much trouble AJ, Santana won't be happy if you scare him off," she tells her husband with a smirk.

"Well if he scares off that easy then he doesn't need to be dating my baby," Mr. Lopez huffs out. I smile at them as I sit back down in my chair.

"So Rayden, you were just going to tell me why you and your dads moved back to Lima. Did one of your dads get a better job offer?" Mr. Lopez asks again. I swallow thickly before deciding on the truth. Lying's not the best way to start off a relationship, even if it is just to her parents.

"Not exactly sir. I believe you work at the hospital with my father Hiram correct?"

"Yeah I know Hiram, he's a great guy," Mr. Lopez tells me and I smile.

"Well you see sir, when I was in New York-"

"Hey," the shy voice of Santana interrupts me and I sigh in relief.

"Hey," I breath out as I stand from the chair and take in her appearance. She looks amazing even though she's only in a pair of older black skinny jeans, a regular red WMHS cheer shirt, and a pair of old black and red running shoes. Her hair's in a ponytail and I can tell that she only has the bare minimum of make-up on. I don't think there's any way possible for this girl to look anything _but_ gorgeous.

"Sorry I'm late," she says as she walks further into her living room.

"No, no, it's fine," I tell her quickly as I pull her into a hug. We stay like that for a few moments before Mr. Lopez clearing his throat causes us to break apart. "You look amazing by the way."

"Uh huh," she says sarcastically and with a roll of her eyes, but I can see the faint blush coming up her cheeks and the smile playing on the corners of her lips.

"No really you do. Oh! And these are for you," I try and tell her before remembering her flowers and handing them to her.

"Thank you. These are my favorite," she tells me with a huge grin that she's trying to contain. I don't bother to contain my own smile as I answer.

"I know. I was able to get the information off of Britt. So...shall we?" I ask, trying to shake my nerves.

"Yeah, just let me put these in some water."

"I can do that mija," Mrs. Lopez says, rising from the couch and taking the flowers from Santana.

"We'll continue our talk later," Mr. Lopez tells me as Santana leads me towards the front door.

"I look forward to it sir," I lie as I open the door for Santana. She grabs her bag containing her extra clothes and her purse before sending me another smile and walking out of the house. We head over to my jeep and I open her door for her and once I know she's completely in I shut it and head over to my side.

"So where are we going?" she asks, excitement practically rolling off of her in waves.

"You'll see," I tell her with a smirk and a chuckle before pulling out of her driveway.

**So next chapter is the date! What do you think it's going to be? I hope you enjoyed that chapter and I also hope you take the time to review in the pretty little box below. Please? Thanks for reading! = )**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: So here's the big date! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I want to thank each and every one of you for reading this story. Also a big thanks for leaving me reviews, cause they're the best part of writing, and for all of the alerts.**

_**Disclaimer: Glee's not mine**_

"So what did my dad have to say? I hope it wasn't too bad," Santana asks a few minutes into our drive. I smirk at the worry in her voice and contemplate messing with her before deciding not to.

"He just gave me the usual 'first date' talk," I tell her with a shrug, keeping my eyes on the road. I can feel her staring at the side of my head, trying to figure out whether or not I'm telling the truth I guess, before I see her nod once out of the corner of my eye.

"Do you miss New York?" she asks, breaking the comfortable silence that was settling over us.

"Yes and no. I mean, New York's my home and I'm heading there the moment I graduate, but at the same I'm enjoying being back here. I missed Noah and my family greatly, and I also got to meet you, so those are all great reasons to enjoy being back," I tell her with a smile, which turns into a grin when Santana blushes and releases a shy smile of her own.

"We're going paintballing?" she asks a few minutes later when I pull into the paintball lot. I think I hear excitement in her tone but that could also just be wishful thinking on my part.

"Um...yeah. I hope that's ok," I say, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. "I mean I kinda got the vibe that you're into this kinda stuff, and I didn't want our first date to be the cliched dinner and a movie thing, but if you don't like it we can just find a movie that's playing right now and then go to dinner afterwards, if you want that is, cause-" Santana cuts off my ramble by placing her hand over my mouth.

"Rayden it's perfect, and it's definitely not the cliched first date," she tells me with a giant grin, and I relax with a sigh of relief. "Hey!" she exclaims with a pout when I lick her hand that is still covering my mouth. I give her my boyish smile, that I have yet to use on her, when she removes it and she melts.

"After you M'lady," I say with a bow after I open her door for her. She jumps out with a playful roll of her eyes, and after grabbing my hand we walk towards the building. I hold the door open for her again, and once we're at the sign in table I pull out my wallet as we wait for someone to assist us.

"Hello and welcome to the Paintball Zone. How may I help you?" a lady in her early 20's questions as she walks out of a back room. She gives me an appreciative look, which Santana bristles at, but I ignore her and pull out my online tickets from my wallet.

"Hey, we're the 2:30 for field five," I tell her with a small smile while handing her our tickets. She looks them over for a few seconds before nodding and motioning us to follow her. I wrap my arm around Santana's waist as we walk and she leans into me, which causes me to grin stupidly.

"Alright here's the safety gear you're going to need, along with your guns and ammo," the woman tells us once we're in a small room with a door that leads outside to the field. "You have the field for approximately three hours and if anyone gets hurt there is a first aid station towards the front of the field. Any questions?"

After Santana and I both say no the woman leaves with another once over of me, and I have to fight my smirk at Santana's jealousy. We get into our gear in silence, and after Santana procures the green balls for herself, I grab the purple and we both stand in front of the door.

"How's it gonna feel when you have to tell Puck and the guys that you got your ass handed to you on the first date?" Santana questions smugly.

"Well babe, seeing as I don't plan on letting that happen, I have no idea," I retort, before kissing her cheek and sprinting outside, Santana hot on my heels. I hit the timer that counts down the time we have to hide, and once it signals the beginning of the game I smirk and go into stealth mode.

* * *

"Damnit Santana!" I growl as I'm hit with another green paintball.

"Take that sucker!" Santana cackles with a pelvic thrust before we head back towards the score area. Santana marks another win for herself, which ties us five to five.

"You're better than I thought," I tell her with a grin as I wrap her in my arms.

"It's Sylvester and her damn survival training," she says as she rest her head on my chest. We've been playing non-stop for around two hours and this is our first break.

"Survival training?" I question, part incredulous and part curious.

"Yeah coach told us it was her way of weeding out the babies and weaklings. Every year at cheer camp she does something new to test our skills, and my freshman year she dropped us off in the woods and told us to find our way back to camp. Once we finally managed to make it back, she gave us paintball guns and then dropped us in a different part of the woods. She told us that if we got shot, then we were kicked off the team," she tells me with a shrug while I stand there in shock.

"That woman is batshit insane," I mutter out when I finally pick my jaw up off of the top of Santana's head.

"Yeah I know, but you can't deny that she's a winner," she tells me as she pulls away and heads to the water fountain. I follow her lead and drink like I haven't seen water for ages.

"While that's true, I'm pretty sure there are less..._extreme_, ways to go about it," I say as I wipe the sweat from my face with the bottom of my shirt.

"Mmhmm," Santana murmurs distractedly, and when I look up I see her ogling my stomach. I chuckle at her and that seems to snap her out of her daze. She blushes before glaring at me and rolling her eyes. "Whatever lets play, cause there ain'ts no way I'ma settle for a fucking tie." I just continue to laugh at her as I take off running once she hits the button to start a new game.

* * *

"I can't believe you beat me," Santana whines as we walk towards my jeep to retrieve our clothes. I just wrap an arm around her and pull her into my side.

"I told you I didn't plan on losing sweetheart," I mumble as I kiss the top of her head. She just glares at me playfully as I unlock my jeep and we grab our clothes.

"You could have been a gentleman and let me win," she pouts as she grabs her backpack.

"I could have..._but _I know for a fact that that wouldn't have been what you would've wanted," I tell her with a smirk as we walk back into the building.

"Whatever...ass," she mumbles out, trying to hide her grin as she turns to walk into the girls bathroom.

"Oh how you pain me so," I semi-yell dramatically, clutching at my chest over my heart. Santana just shakes her head at me, not even bothering to turn around.

I head into the guys restroom, and after relieving myself I walk into a stall and shed my paint-covered clothes. I pull on a pair of stonewashed skinny jeans with a rip in the left knee, a pale yellow button down and I roll the sleeves up, and a black vest that I leave open. I then pull my combat boots back on, and after making sure my hair isn't a disaster I walk out of the bathroom to wait for Santana.

My breath hitches as Santana walks out in a darkish green dress that hugs her curves in all of the right places. The dress is held up by two thin straps over her shoulders and stops just above her knees. And did I also mention that it hugs all of her curves in all of the right places? Cause it does. Magnificently so.

"You look...wow," I breath out, also taking in the green heels that make her as tall as me, and the fact that her hair's now down and perfectly straight.

"Thank you," she mumbles out shyly. I kiss her cheek before holding out my arm and once she takes it I walk her to the door. "So are you going to tell me where we're going now, or is that a secret as well?" she asks once we're in my jeep and heading towards our next destination.

"Well a little birdie told me that your favorite restaurant is Breadstix, so I thought we could go there to grab something to eat," I tell her casually, but I'm actually nervous as fuck. Things have been going great so far, but I'm afraid I'm going to screw it up somehow, and I don't want that to happen cause I really like Santana.

"Oh my god yes!" Santana squeals before clearing her throat and trying to play it off. "I mean yeah. That sounds cool." I just smirk at the road and nod, trying to keep my laughter at bay.

I just stare at Santana in awe as _another_ basket of breadsticks is placed on our table. I mean _damn_. And I thought _I_ could eat. This is like our...fifth(?)...or maybe sixth...basket, and I've only had six breadsticks all together.

"So tell me about your family," I say after swallowing my mouthful of ravioli. I've gotta admit that this place is pretty great, and I can totally see why San loves this place so much.

"There's not much to tell. I mean you already know that my Papi's a doctor. My Mami's a nurse, and I have two brothers. Rigo's in his freshman year at UCLA, and Alex is four," she answers before taking a sip of her diet coke.

"Wow, your parents spaced you and Alex pretty far apart didn't they?" I question with a grin.

"Yeah well...Alex was kinda unplanned. My parents only planned on having two kids, and when they got the boy first and the girl second they were overjoyed. Alex was just a surprise that they didn't know they wanted," Santana explains before eating another breadstick.

"Hmm...you know that's a perfect way to describe it. I think I'm going to use that when Chord eventually asks about everything," I murmur out, mostly to myself. Santana hears me though and she throws me a small smile.

"What about you? No other siblings?" she questions.

"Not that I know of, but then again I don't know who my mom is. I might have a brother or sister running around somewhere," I answer as cheerfully as possible. I think some of the resentment and sadness pass through my walls that Santana catches though.

"I'm sorry," she tells me softly as she grabs and squeezes my hand. I link our fingers together with a smile.

"Don't be sorry. It's just a sort of sore topic I guess. I mean I've always wondered about her, you know? Trust me when I say that Ruth's the most amazing mother anyone can ask for and my dads are great, but when I think about my mother, and how she didn't want me...I don't know. I just hope that Chord doesn't feel the way I do when he's older."

"Well if it helps I think your mom's fucking insane for not wanting a kid as awesome as you, and the same goes for Chord's mom. Although I am kinda grateful for her being the dumbass she is," Santana tells me, and I laugh slightly at the end.

"Why's that?" I ask, nodding to the waiter as he takes our empty plates.

"Because if she never would have let you go, then you wouldn't have come here," she answers, looking at the table.

"Thank you," I tell her with a soft smile as I reach across the table to lift her head. She returns my smile and once the waiter comes back with the check I slip him my credit card.

* * *

"So I have to admit that this was one of the best dates I've ever been on," Santana tells me as I walk her to her front door. It's only eight o'clock, but it's a school night and we both have glee in the morning, along with football and Cheerios after school, and I still want to spend time with Chord.

"Really?" I question with a huge grin. I've never been very good at the whole planning dates thing, so to hear that this was one of her best dates has me giddy and smiling like a fool.

"Yeah...so thank you," she whispers out as we make it to the front door. I wrap my arms around her waist and gently pull her against me so that she's flush against my body.

"Trust me, it was my pleasure," I breath out as I slowly close the gap between our lips. I see Santana's eyes slip shut before I'm closing my own as our lips brush against eachother.

The kiss starts off light and hesitant, but then Santana adds more pressure. I take her bottom lip in between mine and suck on it before gently biting down and illiciting an insanely sexy moan from her. She then swipes her tongue against my bottom lip and as I go to open my mouth someone clears their throat. I jump away from Santana as if I've been burned to see Mr. Lopez glaring at me from the doorway.

"Um...h-hello again sir," I stammer out after clearing my throat.

"Papi behave," Santana scolds him as he continues to glare at me. She then turns back to me. "I really did have an amazing time today, so thank you. Call me later?"

"Of course, and I'm glad you enjoyed today," I tell her, and after she gives me a quick peck, at which her dad dramatically clears his throat again, I head to my jeep."Bye San. Bye Mr. Lopez," I call out as I jump inside. I pull out of their driveway with a wave and can't stop the little happy dance I do as I head home.

**So I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. Also I've never been paintballing, so I have no idea how things actually work and this is what I thought it might go like. Thanks for reading and I hope you leave a review for me in the box below = )**


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